LabCorp claims to be "the World's Leading Health Care Diagnostics Company" and they offer routine…read moreblood work, pediatric collections, employee wellness body measurement, H pylori breath tests, employment drug screening, saliva alcohol testing, paternity tests, and hair collection. They have 5 locations in the Austin area and this one near 183 and Balcones Woods (not far from where I work, thus my decision to go here) is a fairly recent addition. Online appointments are theoretically available at https://www.labcorp.com/labs-and-appointments, but they also take walk-ins. Note that they are closed from 12:30-1:30, so dropping off a sample at lunch may be a challenge.
There seems to be a trend in clinical lab chains these days to try to staff the locations with a barebones "team of one" who has to do everything from phlebotomy to security to administration to janitorial services. That must help the bottom line somewhere, but it makes the patient/customer experience a total frustration from start to finish. Case in point: this site for LabCorp (well, at least the comically accurate name previews the impersonal treatment you can expect).
First off, the website and outgoing phone message give you absolutely no clue that you are actually heading to a building in the Seton Northwest Hospital complex. After following my Waze/Google/Yelp map trifecta to ensure I was going to 11111 Research Blvd, I wasted about 20 minutes driving around in circles looking for the listed address on a sign, a marque with the business name, anything to suggest that LabCorp was nearby. Nothing! I wasn't the only one, either, as I later saw 3 other cars apparently doing the same bewildered slow drive around the parking lot and surrounding locations that I did.
When you call the listed phone number, you only get an automated message with minimal information and no ability to speak to a live person to ask a question (because the only person there is busy doing EVERYthing else in the office). Is it too much to ask to add one more sentence to the disembodied voice message which says, "Located in the Seton Northwest Health Plaza building in the same medical complex as Seton Northwest Hospital"?
Once you finally get to the correct destination, posted signs indicate that you will not be treated as a human being but rather as a potential threat or criminal. Need a drink of water? The sign says to ask permission before accessing the fountain; who can give permission if the only staff person is in the back taking a sample from another patient? Happen to have your kid with you? Good luck with this errand because they can't come to the lab bay with you and you can't leave them unattended in the lobby. The self-signin machine was out of service, so you had to wait your turn to speak to the single human employee onsite. And so on. I photographed only a portion of the many ominous & paternalistic directives around the room.
I was the 2nd customer in the room when I arrived shortly after the posted open hours, but it still took about 15 minutes until I was able to have my lab samples taken & sign all the necessary paperwork. The patient before me was berated for not properly registering his appointment and from the waiting area, I was able to hear his entire interaction with the lab tech, something I'm certain breaks HIPAA (medical privacy) best practices. I also was not pleased with the paper sign-in sheet which was viewable by everyone and requested the patient's full name and time of arrival; I did not comply and simply wrote my initials.
My interactions with the lab tech / do-it-all person were as pleasant as could be under the circumstances. I believe that she was doing the best she could under conditions beyond her control. For her, I'm leaving 2 stars rather than the 1 that this experience warranted.
Next time I need to have a lab sample analyzed, I'll choose another company, even if I have to drive out of my way to do so.